ASCoR – Research Priority Areas Communication & Personalised Communication of the University of Amsterdam

 

INVITATION

 

Special Lecture:

 

Beyond Filter Bubbles: The Radical Right, Digital Media and the Rise of Undemocratic Public Spheres

 

Professor Lance Bennett

(University of Washington, Seattle)

 

Tuesday, September 3, 15.30 to 17.00 hours

followed by drinks

 

Location: REC C10.20

Nieuwe Achtergracht 166

1018 WV Amsterdam

 

 

Dear ASCoR- and Research Priority Areas Communication & Personalised Communication Members,

We cordially invite you to this lecture in the RPA Lecture Series, which is being given by Lance Bennett, Professor of Political Science and Ruddick C. Lawrence Professor of Communication at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA, where he directs the Center for Communication and Civic Engagement (www.engagedcitizen.org).

The focus of his work is on how communication processes affect citizen engagement with politics.  His publications include The Logic of Connective Action: Digital Media and the Personalization of Contentious Politics (with Alexandra Segerberg, Cambridge, 2013). He has held visiting professorships at Harvard University in the US, Uppsala and Stockholm in Sweden, and Free University, Berlin, and has an honorary doctorate from Uppsala.

Abstract:

Beyond Filter Bubbles: The Radical Right, Digital Media and the Rise of  Undemocratic Public Spheres

Many democratic nations are experiencing increased levels of false information circulating through social media and political websites that mimic journalism formats. In many cases, this disinformation is associated with the efforts of movements and parties on the radical right to mobilize supporters against center parties and the mainstream press that carries their messages. The spread of disinformation can be traced to growing legitimacy problems in many democracies. Declining citizen confidence in institutions undermines the credibility of official information in the news, and opens publics to alternative information sources. Those sources are often associated with both nationalist (primarily radical right) and foreign (commonly Russian) strategies to undermine institutional legitimacy and destabilize center parties, governments, and elections. The Brexit campaign in the U.K. and the election of Donald Trump in the U.S. are among the most prominent examples of systematic disinformation intended to disrupt normal democratic order, but many other nations display signs of disinformation and democratic disruption. Rather than continue calling these developments “populism," I suggest we find more useful concepts and theoretical frameworks for exploring these developments. 

If you plan to attend the lecture, please register by sending an e-mail to K.H.Hair@uva.nl

 

 

On behalf of the Research Priority Areas Communication & Personalised Communication teams,

Best regards, 

 

 

Prof. dr. Claes de Vreese and dr. Theo Araujo

University of Amsterdam

Amsterdam School of Communication Research / ASCoR

 

Prof. dr. Natali Helberger

University of Amsterdam

The Institute for Information Law (IViR)

 

Nieuwe Achtergracht 166

1018 WV Amsterdam